Which is more important, Thanksgiving or Black Friday Deals?

When it comes to Thanksgiving, it is a time for families to come together and celebrate the meaning of the holiday – being thankful for everything that we have. The holidays get everyone into the giving spirit, but sometimes we put the real meaning of the holidays on the back burner.

While growing up, whenever Thanksgiving or any holiday came around, I was only focused on two things: food and presents. Looking back, that makes me out to be selfish. When it came to Thanksgiving, food was a major aspect on that day. I was not aware of the few key factors that came with Thanksgiving, like quality family time, bonding and giving thanks/being grateful for the things we have in our lives.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas, I was selfish and did not care about others. I also never appreciated the things I had in life. An example would be when I received my first car around Christmastime. I was upset because I did not get the car I wanted, when really I should have looked at the bigger picture and been thankful I got a car at all.

As I reached my late teen years and my early 20’s, I started to appreciate the quality family time that I was able to spend with my family in general and on holidays. Most children or families aren’t lucky to have their families all under one roof for the holidays; I was one of those families this year.

My mom found herself working overtime from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. and I didn’t think it was a big deal, but as Thanksgiving Day slowly approached, I realized how different Thanksgiving felt when my mom was missing. For the first time this year, it was me cooking all the food, with the assistance of my mom (when she could). 

While cooking the food, it put things into a different perspective for me… I felt like a woman. I also gained a greater appreciation for the small or big things all moms do on this holiday or any holiday in general.

In America, Thanksgiving is the one day when families can come together and be thankful for everything, but the second it hits 6 p.m. through midnight on Thanksgiving Night, people forget about the holiday and focus on the Black Friday deals. About five or so years ago, you would not find a store open on Thanksgiving day/night at all. 

Now, the majority of stores open at 5 p.m., allowing people to get the items they have been waiting to go on sale. It’s very interesting to see how quickly Americans can change from being thankful and caring to greedy.

There are videos all over the Internet of people fighting for video game consoles, big screen televisions and clothing, all while ignoring how a couple hours prior to their shopping escapade, they were sitting around a dinner table giving thanks for everything they had.

Personally how I see thanksgiving is a day of giving back and being thankful for everything that we have. Americans as a whole should think this way all the time and not only on this holiday. It’s ironic that we are supposed to be thankful for our blessings, yet we become so wrapped up in materialistic things.